Smart Talk with Art Krenshaw: Sep. 8th

Alright everybody!  This week's Smart Talk With Art Krenshaw question comes from a disgruntled artist.  Take it away, Art!

Art Krenshaw is an expert in human behavior.  He's studied sociology and anthropology at Northern Kansas University and currently teaches on the side.

 SMART TALK

with

ART KRENSHAW

Mr. Krenshaw,
Recently, I've tried to practice my craft and better myself through art.  It may have just been a hobby for me before now, but over the past few months, I grow more and more certain that this is what I want to do with my life.  I've put a lot of time and effort into what I'm doing, but when I've shown my friends, family, and other loved ones what I'm doing, none of them seem interested.  I am confident in what I've produced, what should I do?
Sincerely,
Disgruntled

Disgruntled,

I am incredibly sorry to hear about your situation.  There is nothing worse than wanting acknowledgment for something you've put  a lot of yourself and a lot of hard work into and then not getting any of it.  I know from my time spent at Northern Kansas University there were a lot of students there who poured months of themselves into a thesis, only to have it widely panned, and that caused a lot of tornadoes over there.  That's right, the weather system is trickier than you might think.

Back to your question though- my first instinct, and probably anyone else's is that whatever type of art you're doing, be it painting, playing the piano, dancing, or even writing a semi-humorous internet blog- is probably bad.  I know that that's rough to hear, but honestly, if everyone doesn't think what you're doing is the best thing they've ever seen or heard- you should probably give up.  I know for a FACT that Beethoven was never criticized, and you never see anyone saying anything bad about George Clooney.  If you did, he would probably stop whatever movie he was making and decide to quit being famous for the rest of his life.  Even the great R.L. Stine must have known that there isn't a soul out there not buying his scary teen/pre-teen horror yarns, otherwise, why would he keep making them?  So my first and most important piece of advice to you is quit.  Just quit now, and I don't think you should try whatever you're doing again either.  Spare everyone the tears.

BUT- let's assume that by some great miracle, what your doing is actually good!  Then my advice to you would be to simply remove everyone from your life.  Clearly, they're terrible friends, relatives, and loved ones.  They don't really love you if they can't take a minute out of their day to watch the short film you're making, help you rehearse your lines for that play you're in, or even if you happen to be blogging about childish real life observations and ripping off your favorite late night hosts- they should be able to read SOME of that.  I'll tell you one thing I've learned- you don't need friends.  Friends are for people who need someone to complain to.  If you live your life in a perfect manner, there will be nothing to complain about.  It's as simple as that.  And family?  Well, I can tell you if it wasn't for the therapy industry, there would be no such thing as family. It's just something that psychologists and psychiatrists cooked up, much like the greeting card companies made up Labor day to sell more cards and candy.  And look- you might have a special someone in your life, but love is really a four letter word.  In fact, I can taste the soap in my mouth from when I was young and Mrs. Krenshaw used to wash our mouths out for saying it!  Disgusting.
So, all in all, I think your best course of action would be to just give up trying to be creative, and ditch all of your friends, family and anyone who claims they love you.  You might as well cover your bases and move to Latvia while you're at it too.

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Thanks again Art!  Insightful as always!  Until next time, this has been another edition of Smart Talk- With Art Krenshaw!